BUDAPEST, February 19. /TASS/. Hungary urges the European Commission to defend the interests of EU member countries, not those of Ukraine, which blocked Russian oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
He welcomed the European Commission’s decision to discuss the issue during the Oil Coordination Group meeting due February 24 but suggested that the EU’s primary executive body should "act as the commission of Europe, and not of Ukraine."
In his opinion, the European Commission should demand that the Kiev government "complies with the EU association agreement which stipulates that Ukraine should not put energy security of any EU member country at risk."
On top of that, Szijjarto believes that the European Commission should "take seriously the EU’s rules on Russian oil imports," making Croatians understand that they cannot impede the delivery of Russian oil for Hungary and Slovakia by sea while the Druzhba pipeline remains offline.
According to Hungarian data, oil has not flowed through the Druzhba pipeline since January 27. Budapest believes that Kiev is attempting to provoke an energy crisis in Hungary ahead of parliamentary elections to create difficulties for the current government and support the political opposition. Hungarian authorities have assured that they will ensure stable oil supplies and the availability of fuel at gas stations. Hungary has oil reserves sufficient to supply refineries for more than three months.
On February 15, Hungary and Slovakia asked Croatia to allow the transit of Russian crude oil through the Adriatic Pipeline. It is expected that it will be delivered to the Croatian port of Omisalj by sea. Budapest believes this can be done in full compliance with EU regulations. The European Commission stated that its oil coordination group was to discuss the issue at its next meeting.